International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, (abbreviated ISTSS), was established on March 2, 1985 in Washington, D.C. for professionals to share information about the effects of trauma. ISTSS membership includes psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, nurses, counselors, researchers, administrators, advocates, journalists, clergy and others with an interest in the study and treatment of traumatic stress. Members come from a variety of clinical and non-clinical settings around the world, including public and private health facilities, private practice, universities, non-university research foundations and many others.

ISTSS was originally named the Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (STSS) when it was established at a meeting organized by Charles Figley that was held in Washington, DC in March 1985. A foundational objective of the Society was to publish a journal featuring scholarly work on traumatic stress. This was achieved in July 1986 with the creation of the Journal of Traumatic Stress (JTS),[2] whose first issue was published in January 1988.[3] The Society’s first annual meeting was held in Atlanta, GA in September 1985. In April 1990, the Society’s name was changed to the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies to reflect its growing non-U.S. membership.[4]

The first edition of its newsletter, Stresspoints,[5] which was published in 1986, started with an editorial commenting upon the diversity of opinion expressed in the press about the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, expressing hope that "very soon we can create a national media registry. This would include those most of us would agree are qualified to comment on the psychosocial consequences of traumatic events... We hope that by providing the media with a list of qualified experts, the level of public information about human response to catastrophes will be increased substantially.[6]

Despite the fact that 60-70% of the members are still primarily clinicians, the Board of Directors was soon dominated by members with academic positions, which led to split within the organization in early 1990s and many of the grassroots organizers and workers, many clinicians, law enforcement personnel, chaplains, emergency workers etc. formed a separate organization which is now known as ATSS, the Association for Traumatic Stress Specialists.[7]

Another split is between its American and European members who are faced with highly traumatized refugee populations, an issue that is easily overlooked by the American members.

The recurrent tensions in the society are about the attention given to child trauma, as well. The daily exposure to the overwhelming effects of victimization has left many members with a desire for a safe place where the horror of trauma can be intellectually and emotionally cordoned off, and safely transformed.

The fellowship for journalists who want to deepen their knowledge of emotional trauma and improve the responsible media coverage of violence, conflict and tragedy, was established by ISTSS in 1999 in partnership with Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma.

ISTSS is a large, multidisciplinary society. Members involve themselves in ISTSS along two axes: the victim/survivor populations with which they work and the interest areas they have that span survivor groups in scope. ISTSS maintains an active committee structure that allows members hands-on participation in program development and implementation. These special interest groups include: